Van mayor stopped firemen from putting out fires during protests

The claim was included in the investigation folder concerning the mayor and several other suspects in the terrorist Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) probe. Kaya and two others -- Bostaniçi Mayor Nezahat Ergüneş and former Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) provincial Van branch head Mihriban Şah -- were arrested early on Sunday by a court on charges of membership in a terrorist organization after being detained last week as part of an investigation into the KCK.

According to the investigation folder, the Van mayor worked to create a tense atmosphere ahead of the illegal demonstration in the province and urged its participants to resort to violent acts during the demonstration, which took place on April 19, 2011. The mayor ordered municipal workers to tour the province with construction vehicles to call locals to attend the demonstration. The demonstration was aimed at protesting the ongoing KCK trial in which several members and officials of the pro-Kurdish BDP are standing trial for alleged membership in a terrorist organization. The trial is being heard by a high criminal court in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır. Dozens of construction vehicles belonging to the Van Municipality patrolled the streets and urged locals to participate in the protest.

In addition, Kaya did not allow firefighters to arrive at the scene of fires that erupted during the violent demonstration. Protesters attacked private and public buildings with Molotov cocktails. Firefighters tried to reach the buildings to extinguish the fires but the Van mayor reportedly called several municipal workers via his cell phone and ordered them to prevent the firefighters from coming to extinguish the fires. “Why are firefighters coming? Block the roads,” the mayor reportedly told the workers. The transcripts of the mayor's phone conversations are also included in the investigation folder. The mayor was also captured by security cameras during the said conversations. The prosecutors involved in the investigation also included a claim in the folder that a pregnant employee at a bank that was attacked by protesters using Molotov cocktails had a miscarriage.

The investigation into the KCK, which prosecutors say is an umbrella organization for the PKK and other affiliated groups, started in December 2009 and a large number of suspected KCK members, including several mayors from the BDP, have been detained.

16 detained in KCK operation in Hakkari

Sixteen people were taken into custody on Monday in the eastern province of Hakkari as part of a deepening investigation into the KCK.

Anti-terror teams of the Hakkari Police Department launched simultaneous operations in a number of locations early in the morning hours. Among the 16 detained were officials from the pro-Kurdish BDP as well as members of the Human Rights Association (İHD). Police seized a large number of documents belonging to the KCK and the PKK. The detainees were taken to a police department for interrogation. It was not immediately clear whether the 16 people were set to be arrested or set free.